Daniel Von Der Embse

musical child

Two crazy poets for parents
earns you twice the pity
and explains so much
You put to music
the words we wrote
and made them greater
than the sum of our parts
creating a more perfect union
than we had



hero (for my father)

There was a time when the words
flowed out of you like a raging river

before you went west to build
the great monuments

before the war in Africa where
unspeakable acts
took away your words—

not all at once but slowly
until you could speak only
through me

relying on my voice
to tell the truth about
what you did

and the shame you wore
in the ribbons of a hero
you never were

only a man killing to live
so that you might come home
to find your humanity intact



Daniel von der Embse was born and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, and graduated from Ashland University with a B.A. degree in Theatre. He began writing poetry after a career as an award-winning copywriter for advertising agencies in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco. His poems appear The Missing Slate, Penny Ante Feud, Harpoon Review, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and Poetry Quarterly. 

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